Tuesday, 16 July 2013

ASHEN WINTER - ASHFALL SERIES BY MIKE MULLIN

BLURB from GoodreadsIt’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.MY REVIEW

I
received this book originally via Netgalley, then due to a problem with a
kindle I actually “lost it” luckily the lovely Peggy Tierney managed to get me
a pdf I could read on my kindle.

The
cover really attracts your attention, the starkness of it, with the dead
looking landscape on one side and then the two arms reaching for one another
over a peach coloured scarf. But when I look at the two arms over the peach
coloured scarf I feel I am also looking at a cross section of an arm bared to
the muscle, which kind of fits with the book and represents the flensers to me. That same image can also be looked at and two hands being separated with a brightly covered scarf behind the image, which fits in with a pivotal scene in the book. It also matches the newer cover for book one too. Though I really liked the old cover for book one! I think the font and style of the title and Author name are great, they are
kind of semi camouflaged into the Ashiness of the landscape and that really
works.

Would
I pick this up from a book store shelf, on the strength of the cover alone? Yes
I would want to know more. The cover to me does suggest a little gore/horror to
me too.

So
now to the book, of course it is brilliantly written by Mike Mullin just as
book one was. With this book even thought it seemed like ages ago that I read
book one I slid straight back into the action and plot of this book. I was
immediately re attached emotionally to the characters. The way Mike writes this
book really has you emotionally invested in the characters, you really want
them to succeed in their quests. You feel their frustrations when things do not
go to plan, you quite literally feel their pain!

So
the “quest” Alex and Darla are on is to find alex’s parents and then return to
Warren and the relative “safety” of Uncle Paul’s farm. They want the family
reunited all in one place. Oh and just to complicate things even more they need
to get some wheat seeds if possible to allow them to grow another crop on the
farm.

I
really do not want to give away any spoilers at all, so forgive me if I come
across a little cryptic. So the one thing that neither Alex nor Darla wants to
happen does happen, which changes the quest/mission. Alex has to find even more
strength than he ever thought he had both mentally and physically. Alex has to
use his wits to trade for things he needs, at times it seems he it literally up
against the whole world. He has to face the Peckerwood Flensers, the Dirty
white Boy Flensers, as well as the Black Lake Guard who are supposed to be
keeping order. Alex and Darla have a lot of decisions to make, usually really
quickly with their lives depending on there outcomes. They also have to learn
who they can and cannot trust.

We
meet two new major characters in this book, Ben an autistic military expert. He
is literally an encyclopedia of knowledge. Then there’s Ben’s sister, Alyssa
who has had to do awful things and has been used in many ways by the flensers
and traded around like a slave. Using her body has been the only way for her to
ensure that her and her brother stayed alive.

The
end of the book is fantastic, just as you think everything is over and is going
to be okay and peaceful, there’s an unexpected twist that leaves a huge cliff
hanger in place. The book ends just on the cusp of another life changing event.

So
did I enjoy the book? Wow, I seriously loved it. I loved book one but I loved
this second installment even more! Would I recommend the book? I certainly
would, to all post apocalyptic fans as well as thriller and suspense fans.
Would I read a Bk#3? Yes please asap! I really need to know what happens next.
Will things improve? Who lives? Does civilization survive and begin to recover
and rebuild? So many questions!

Would
I read other books by Mike Mullin? Definitely I love his style of writing, the
pace, the flow, the descriptions, all of it.

1 comment:

About Me

Hi, My name is Sandra, though for my blog I go by an adaptation of my middle name, Jeanz! I live in the UK, started blogging in Aug 2011. I have always loved books!. If a blurb catches my eye I will usually give reading it a go!

About me & my reviews

As of January 2017 all opinions expressed on this blog my own. I do not receive any cash payment for my reviews. I read because we all love reading! Also I no longer use links on my blog through the Amazon Associates Program.